ReMix: New Super Mario Bros. 'Plumber's Bane: I. Don't Look Back!'

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New Super Mario Bros.

Random Hero, aka Ryan Roberts, had a single mix posted in 2006, 2007, and 2008, and now he knocks out 2009 with an orchestral NSMB mix that actually draws from multiple Mario games:

... as broken down by Ryan himself. He writes:

"This song was started in order to test the Organ samples that came with EWQL Colossus, mainly the church organ. It was only meant to be a bit of fun, but it kept evolving into something bigger and better then any old scrap song I have done. The song started out as a remix of the 2 fortress themes from New Super Mario Bros. but soon grew to include bits from many other Mario games.

Part way through this remix, someone suggested I try to remix the Final Bowser Battle music from New SMB.  So part way through one remix, I started another. But I soon came up with a way to join both songs together. When completed, the song, which I call “Plumber’s Bane”, reached 10 minutes and 33 seconds. But in order to submit the song, it was re-split into its original 2 parts.

”Don’t Look Back!” is the first part that song and is submitted here. It focuses on Mario’s fight to reach Bowser and of course, save the Princess."

It's a Mario mega-opus, and while the second part should show up here as well in due time, there's more than enough Mario jam-packed into this first bit to keep you satisfied. There's a LOT of timpani in this mix, too, so your needs are covered there as well. Things intro with sinister timpani rolls and subtle string swells, but eventually the afforementioned organ becomes dominant. I have Colossus, and I have to say I really didn't remember the organ being this huge; I think a good part of it is that Ryan's put it to excellent use in a fitting context. This arrangement feels... large. Not in terms of tons of reverb being applied, or tons of instruments being employed, or having bombastic climaxes, but simply by virtue of the organ having such piercing, soaring presence; it's very dramatic. Not much else to say, really; a very powerful arrangement that I'm glad RH was able & willing to break into halves and submit here. Like Tarantino's work with Kill Bill Vols. I & II, it doesn't feel truncated or incomplete, so I think he's done a great job of splitting things up. Excellent.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
how on earth did i miss this one? i specifically remember seeing this on the frontpage when it was posted, but i guess i never listened to it.
anyway, this is stellar, and i'm excited to see the second movement on the site as well (of course, the unabridged version would be the definitive, but we can't have everything :P)
great job! :nicework:

- halc on March 24, 2010
I'm probably one of the few people who thinks the castle/fortress themes of NSMB are not quite as good or as memorable as the ones from Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World. But you sir, did them justice. The production is silky smooth and the flow between the different pieces was flawless. Worth listening to again and again.

- CC Ricers on March 7, 2010
Crulex;644567 wrote: The beginning sounds like a score of impending doom and I can imagine a great confrontation/ taunting from Bowser in the middle.

Your not far off. The intro (first 30 seconds) was inspired by a song from the Independence Day score (The Darkest Day). so yeah Impending doom is exactly what i was going for!
Oh and Part 2 (and with a new ending) has been submitted here and it will soon reach the panel.

- Random Hero on February 10, 2010
Random Hero, this mix right here is one of the reasons why I enjoy this site! I can't get enough dark, evil organ work from this! The beginning sounds like a score of impending doom and I can imagine a great confrontation/ taunting from Bowser in the middle. Love the slow down right at the end, it sounds like the sound of Bowser finally beating Mario. I've heard part 2 on VGmix as well. That was equally impressive and I hope you manage to get it on OCR too.

Edit: Oops, didn't realize I reviewed this already. My bad. This review's better anyway.

- Crulex on February 10, 2010
Well that's good.

Well, can't wait to hear your songs then.

- Yoshiboy on November 24, 2009
Yoshiboy;616367 wrote: :idea::?:However, do you consider putting the Airship Theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 in your series?

definitly been considered.. prolly part 3 or 4 lol

- Random Hero on November 23, 2009
I have to hand it to you, Random Hero. You have death sentences for Mario and Luigi all over. Awesome remix from all the themes from the Super Mario series.

:idea::?:However, do you consider putting the Airship Theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 in your series? I don't know if that would make it even better or worse. What I think, the Airship theme would probably make it better, considering you have to go through dangerous airship boards in the game. :idea::?:

I give this remix 5 Bowsers out of 5.

- Yoshiboy on November 23, 2009
Woah, this is big, loud and very macabre. Great concept piece. I could always hear the dark side of Kondo's work, and always thought it has gone underappreciated for a while. This mines that material and concentrates it into an extremely well-produced five and a half minutes. Also, I love pipe organ work, especially when used with darkened material, so this is a high achiever for me.
The first half of the mix, while not the superior half, couldn't have been done any better in my opinion. It's like a gothic retrospective of past castle themes, but in no way a traditional medly. We get portions of familiarity shrouded in dissonance and organ hits. Quite an admirable decision and one I appreciate a lot. It makes the thrust into the 'New' Mario territory make a lot of sense and by that stage, the listener knows exactly what the mix is about, and hopefully what to expect from future installments.
This shows all the signs of a very promising series of mixes in the vein of the Cantata for Dancing movements. Let's hope it can live up to the potential suggested in this one. No pressure, or anything...

- Marmiduke on November 21, 2009
Just finished (for the second time) Part II of Pumber's Bane. The orginial ending was to much of a copy from a non-game source. I get the feeling that there may be a Part III in the near future. The new ending of part II is based on the Castle theme from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and i want to develop it into a full song.. we'll see.. Plumber's Bane may become a series of songs for me.

- Random Hero on November 17, 2009
Late to the party, but I wanted to put down my two cents.
I gotta say, the only part of this song I didn't like was the very first organ hit. For some reason, that first hit is really piercing, and not in the good way. But after that one initial organ hit, every other use of it is excellent, sinister, and awesome.
I'm not going to mince words. I love this piece. Dark, brooding, amazing use of source tune, and masterful use of timpanis to back the organ and other instruments. It's purely evil sounding, and when you get to the Castle theme from NSMB, it just all comes together in a positively sinister package. Very cool. A must-listen, and a must-download. Bowser would be proud.

- Triad Orion on August 11, 2009
Nice work getting that epic feel !! I wish I could pull that off, especially with an orchestra/organ thing going on

Not to sound cliche but good job :))

- Mtlbro on August 10, 2009
Good arrangement, great transitions, and very good samples. The crescendo from ~2:00 onwards is absolutely brilliant.
Nice work.

- Martin Penwald on August 4, 2009
The intro certainly took it's time to get going, but it ramped up the mood beautifully. Great restraint and taste, and using subtle cues as well as some massive drums really worked well. This is super dramatic without being overblown.
When things get going, it's even more awesome. The transition writing was excellent, and the underlying rhythmic pulse was very well done.
Double thumbs up, this track is huge.

- OA on July 29, 2009
Really swell work here. I must admit I'm more a fan of the second half than the first, but that is simply a matter of preference. I think the first half is well done from a musical standpoint, it's just not my thing.
Anyway, great mix! I'll be looking forward to part 2!

- jintoreedwine on July 20, 2009
Wow. I rarely post on OCRemix, but this is so epic, I just had to. Well done RH!

- LightSamus on July 20, 2009